reggie watkins, a retired parole officer and a patient at kaiser permanente in oakland, california, is one of them. >> the first biopsy showed a slight cancer, slight amount of cancer. the second biopsy showed no cancer. i do think there's a genetic situation in my family. i'm not the only and my brother is not the only one in the family to have this problem. >> reporter: until recently, watkins' family history and his unique genetic makeup would have played a minor role-- if any-- in his medical care. but thanks in part to a massive, groundbreaking new study under way at kaiser and the university of california san francisco, information gleaned from patients' genes may prove the key to identifying and treating a host of diseases, watkin's cancer among them. >> you know, you're not born to this world as a blank slate. you come into it with a certain genetic disposition. >> reporter: u.c.s.f. professor neil risch, the lead genetic researcher, says that his project and others that compile vast amounts of genetic information are on the verge of revolutionizing medicine. >> we can actually